145,575 total apps in the Windows Store and the top Windows 8.1 apps as of Jan 26th

As of January 26th, there are 145,575 apps in the Windows Store, an increase of 836 apps in just one week. Yet another slow week for app additions to the Store, as we approach the 150,000 app milestone.

Let's dive in and take a look at the most popular Windows 8.1 and Windows RT apps available in the Windows Store. We will go over some stats for the Windows Store, including the top five paid apps and top five free apps. This is yet another post in our feature called "Windows Store Sunday" where we highlight what's going on with the Windows Store.

Earlier this week, Microsoft rolled out an update to the Windows Store onboarding and publishing process, making a developers life a tad bit easier. With this new update, developers can now set their app's release date and time, along with the ability to remove an app from the Store for a period of time. Microsoft has also made the certification process a bit easier.

Windows Store app developers can now choose the data, hour, and time zone for their app, granted it has not reached the Signing and Publishing phase just yet. This allows developers to change the release date while the app is still in certification. On top of that, developers can remove an app's listing from the Store temporarily, which can be quite useful while working to fix a bug or addressing a concern.

And now, lets take a look at the top five free apps in the United States based on popularity: